Jun Kako1,2, Tatsuya Morita3, Takuhiro Yamaguchi4, Asuko Sekimoto1, Masamitsu Kobayashi1, Hiroya Kinoshita5, Asao Ogawa6, Sadamoto Zenda7, Yosuke Uchitomi8,9,10, Hironobu Inoguchi9, Eisuke Matsushima2. 1. 1 Nursing Division, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan. 2. 2 Section of Liaison Psychiatry and Palliative Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Yushima, Tokyo, Japan. 3. 3 Palliative and Supportive Care Division, Seirei Mikatahara Hospital, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan. 4. 4 Biostatistics Division, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. 5. 5 Palliative Care Division, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan. 6. 6 Department of Psycho-Oncology Service, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan. 7. 7 Department of Radiation Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Chiba, Tokyo, Japan. 8. 8 Innovation Center for Supportive, Palliative and Psychosocial Care, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tsukiji, Tokyo, Japan. 9. 9 Department of Psycho-Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tsukiji, Tokyo, Japan. 10. 10 Division of Health Care Research, Center for Public Health Sciences, National Cancer Center, Tsukiji, Tokyo, Japan.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To clarify the duration required for dyspnea to return to baseline severity after fan therapy, to evaluate whether fan-to-legs therapy or no fan therapy would be a suitable control therapy, and to investigate changes in patients' face surface temperature after fan therapy. METHODS: In this pilot study, all participants received 3 interventions in the following order: no fan, fan to legs, and fan to face. Participants used a fan for 5 minutes, and they scored their dyspnea at 10-minute intervals for 60 minutes or until the score had returned to its baseline value, whichever occurred first. Nine patients with advanced cancer admitted to a palliative care unit were included; they had dyspnea at rest and rated its severity as at least 3 points on a 0- to 10-point numerical rating scale. Descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon signed rank test were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: All patients completed the study. Of the 9 participants, 6 experienced a clinical benefit from using a fan to their faces. Of these patients, only 2 participants' (2 of 6) dyspnea scores returned to baseline by the end of the 60-minute assessment period after exposure to fan-to-face therapy. In fan-to-legs and no fan settings, there was no change in the dyspnea scores. There were significant differences between the baseline face surface temperature and that after fan-to-face and fan-to-legs settings. CONCLUSION: When using a crossover design to investigate the effect of fan therapy on dyspnea, 1 hour is an insufficient washout period.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVES: To clarify the duration required for dyspnea to return to baseline severity after fan therapy, to evaluate whether fan-to-legs therapy or no fan therapy would be a suitable control therapy, and to investigate changes in patients' face surface temperature after fan therapy. METHODS: In this pilot study, all participants received 3 interventions in the following order: no fan, fan to legs, and fan to face. Participants used a fan for 5 minutes, and they scored their dyspnea at 10-minute intervals for 60 minutes or until the score had returned to its baseline value, whichever occurred first. Nine patients with advanced cancer admitted to a palliative care unit were included; they had dyspnea at rest and rated its severity as at least 3 points on a 0- to 10-point numerical rating scale. Descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon signed rank test were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: All patients completed the study. Of the 9 participants, 6 experienced a clinical benefit from using a fan to their faces. Of these patients, only 2 participants' (2 of 6) dyspnea scores returned to baseline by the end of the 60-minute assessment period after exposure to fan-to-face therapy. In fan-to-legs and no fan settings, there was no change in the dyspnea scores. There were significant differences between the baseline face surface temperature and that after fan-to-face and fan-to-legs settings. CONCLUSION: When using a crossover design to investigate the effect of fan therapy on dyspnea, 1 hour is an insufficient washout period.
Entities:
Keywords:
advanced cancer; dyspnea; fan therapy; nursing; palliative care; washout period